Fortnite could be back on iOS in a matter of days.
Though that’s not exactly certain right now, it’s looking a lot more likely than it did a couple of weeks ago. The official X account for the game posted an update on Friday confirming that it’s been submitted to the iOS App Store in the United States for review by Apple. And considering that the Epic Games v Apple case could cost Apple up to $1 billion in app store commissions, that’s got to sting a little bit. Epic Games has already been forced to submit Fortnite for review through its European developer account, since Apple nuked Epic’s U.S. developer account.
According to Apple’s developer website, most apps are reviewed by Apple within 24 hours. However, given the unique circumstances around Fortnite‘s return to iOS, it could theoretically take longer in this case.
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In case you haven’t been following along, Fortnite has been unavailable to play natively on iPhones since 2020 because of a still-ongoing legal dispute between Apple and developer Epic Games. The short version is that Apple likes to take a 30 percent commission on in-app purchases in iOS apps, and Epic didn’t like that. One thing led to another, and now there’s a bona fide antitrust case against Apple. That case recently resulted in the company being named in contempt of court, forcing the company to stop collecting fees from off-app purchases. (That’s why you can suddenly buy books in the iOS Kindle app.)
As a result of that ruling, Epic now feels comfortable putting Fortnite back on iOS. When the app will get approved is anyone’s guess, but we’ll let Mashable readers know when it’s available again.